ARTICLES ABOUT WEST HARTFORD BY DATE - PAGE 3

Sarah Melnitsky, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts and West Hartford, August 28, 2014

Marisa Mitrano, a 2014 graduate of Hall High School in West Hartford, has been selected as a recipient of a $2,000 scholarship from the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. Mitrano, who will attend the University of Notre Dame, was one of only 25 area students selected from nearly 300 applicants to receive a scholarship. RMHC of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts awarded a grand total of $50,000 to local students this year. Scholarship applicants were scrutinized by a panel of judges in several categories including academic achievement, community involvement and financial need.

I was enjoying reading "Sophy's All Right" [Aug. 24, Opinion] as I thought it was a good story that depicts courage and perseverance even after we have made some bad decisions. As I came to the end of the story, I was saddened and disappointed by the foul language printed in plain letters. I feel there was no need for this type of language to be added as it really only made the read an unpleasant one, and I wouldn't want to share it with children who might have learned a valuable lesson from it. I am sick and tired of this happening with good movies, but I was not prepared for it from The Courant.

WEST HARTFORD — After an often-contentious public hearing that stretched into the early morning hours Wednesday, the town council approved a development plan for 150 apartment units at 243 Steele Road. Council members voted in favor of the plan 8-1, with Democrat Harry Captain casting the lone dissenting vote. Captain said Wednesday that he felt the size of the development would be more suited to a major thoroughfare, and the Steele Road area, "to me feels more neighborhood.

WEST HARTFORD — As Aaradi Singh walked her daughter Subhi to Whiting Lane Elementary School for her first day of first grade, she gently offered encouragement. "I told her don't be afraid," Singh said. "This school is very good. " Subhi, 6, said she had a good summer and was excited to see friends in class, but was still a little nervous. The school's social worker, Janet Gregorian-Michaelsen, said she and the school psychologist would be walking around the school throughout the day to reassure those feeling anxious.

Susan Schoenberger, author of "The Virtues of Oxygen," will speak Wednesday, Sept. 10 as part of the Tolland Public Library Foundation's popular Eaton-Dimock-King Authors Series. Schoenberger will also sell and sign copies of the book during her appearance, which will be held at 7 p.m. in conference room A of Tolland Town Hall at 21 Tolland Green. The novel tells a heartrending story of two women, Vivian and Holly, who forge an unlikely bond as each is living in dire straits during the Great Recession.

When Jonathan Pelto went on WNPR for a pre-campaign interview this spring, call-in reactions were hostile in the extreme, from people who are clearly Democratic party loyalists. This degree of hostility has continued on social media and in print as Democrats have steadily reviled him as a Nader-esque spoiler. I haven't seen any evidence of Joe Visconti facing this degree of hostility from Republicans. Given Connecticut's overwhelming political blue-ness, my guess is that a sizable number of individuals tasked with locally certifying Pelto's voter petitions are loyal Democrats.

HARTFORD — A bail bondswoman accused of shooting and killing her boyfriend in West Hartford in April rejected a plea offer Tuesday, opting instead to take her chances with a jury. Angela Grasso, 28, of Plainville, faces a single count of murder in connection with the shooting death of Jose Mendez, who was her boyfriend. Grasso told West Hartford police that she shot Mendez in self defense after he threatened to harm her and her children, according to police reports. Her lawyer, Walter D. Hussey, said Mendez explicitly threatened to kill Grasso's children and that she felt she had no choice but to shoot him. She is accused of shooting him in the head on the evening of April 9 on Prospect Avenue just south of Park Road.

Liquor at your door, in the time it takes to order a pizza? That's what a new Hartford-area delivery service is promising. Ultra, which originally began in New York City and has since expanded to Chicago, New Jersey and Maryland, launches in greater Hartford this week. Ultra is now delivering alcoholic beverages to homes and businesses within select ZIP codes in Hartford, Farmington and West Hartford, in about an hour's time. The company works with local liquor stores, which will process and deliver the alcohol once customers place online orders.

In Frank Rizzo's review of the excellent "Woody Sez," he asks where "the folk heroes have gone with something socially relevant to say" [Aug. 19, Living, "An Uplifting Tribute"]. There are lots of them, but they're just not being played on commercial radio -- I doubt if political commentary sells much shampoo. But if you want to hear today's Guthries and Springsteens, check out the folk programming on WHUS, WWUH, WESU and other noncommercial stations not dedicated to the bottom line.

State Workers' Compensation Commissioner Stephen B. Delaney and his wife last year joined a delegation from Westfield State University on a trip to Cuba in apparent violation of federal travel restrictions related to U.S. economic sanctions, according to a Massachusetts inspector general's report. In March 2013, then-Westfield State President Evan S. Dobelle — who resigned late last year amid scandal — led an "educational delegation" that accompanied the school's baseball team to Cuba for exhibition games against a Cuban squad.